What does AMA mean?

[FreeThinkinMama]

What does AMA mean? I get the impression it has something to do with checking out of the hospital before they want to release you? If your care provider wants you or baby to stay a certain number of hours after birth is there a way around that? I've also seen people mention not admitting their baby as a seperate patient, what's that all about?

[doctorjen]

Against Medical Advice

(occasionally, it is also used to abbreviate Advanced Maternal Age in obstetrics, too.)

[miriam]

Another poster here on MDC once shared an old story about a hospital handing a mother a form to sign who was insistent on leaving AMA.

The staff, after trying to dissuade her, finally handed her a form for the disposal of a dead infant and when the mother signed it, she was free to go.

Nowadays, CPS may be called.

These are easily worse case scenarios, so simply be prepared for something hopefully less onerous than these examples.

No new mama needs to deal with hostility as these.

[alison_in_oh]

You can always check out Against Medical Advice, but your insurance company, whether private or government, will not pay any of your hospital bill if you do. Also, if your hospital uses security measures, they may refuse to disconnect the alarm on the baby.

Your provider has to discharge you and I think a pediatrician has to discharge the baby (that's how it was at my hospital). We used a hospital far from home so we had the midwives' preferred local ped check the baby. They work with him often and he knows that their patients often want to go home pronto.

With a little understanding from both providers, we had discharge orders for us both by noon the day after my son was born (about 16 hours after the birth). Total hospital stay from admission to discharge was about 20 hours.

[mamanurse]

AMA=Against Medical Advice This label on your record will often prevent you from having insurance reimbursement, meaning you foot the whole bill.

Most hospitals have a standing policy that baby does not get discharged by their provider prior to 24 hours after birth. It is generally possible to have your provider write an order for early discharge. If this is what you would like to do, then definitely discuss it ahead of time.

[ccohenou]

Just wanted to say that I have signed out of hospital AMA (not birth-related), and did NOT have any trouble having insurance pay for the stay. Check your policy, call your insurance company. Sometimes doctors/hospital personnel will use this as 'financial blackmail,' and it may or may not be true.

[mwherbs]

look at your policy-
you should have the right to refuse any and all medical treatments something

that you might loose is the ability to sue for damages because you are making them not responsible

[FreeThinkinMama]

Thanks, I was just curious. What about not admitting the baby in as a patient? What are the pros and cons of that?

[lisser]

I checked my son out AMA and insurance still paid, no questions asked, fyi.

[lorijds]

Originally Posted by FreeThinkinMama

Thanks, I was just curious. What about not admitting the baby in as a patient? What are the pros and cons of that?

I'm not sure that is possible, to have a hospital birth but not admit the baby as a patient. Why birth in the hospital then? If this were even possible, and you refused to admit the baby, then if something was going on with the infant, they couldn't do anything unless it was immediately lifethreatening. Our hospital is very specific that if a visitor or any non-patient falls ill, unless it is a dire emergency (like they are coding on the spot) we aren't even to take a blood pressure or anything--we direct them down to the ER or to their primary physician. We aren't even supposed to do a basic assessment -- not listen to their heart, test their bloodsugar, feel their pulse, nada -- just give them the choice of taking them down to the ER or letting them go about their business.

I guess if I were so against them having to do anything with my baby, I wouldn't consider birthing in the hospital. I'm pretty sure that being admitted for childbirth automatically admits your infant. So the way to avoid that is to homebirth or birth center birth. Or cultivate a relationship with a ped who is comfortable with sending infants home soon after birth (they exist, it's not *that* uncommon for women to want to leave within 24 hours).

Insurance *may* not pay for the hospitalization, and it also may not pay for any followup that is caused directly by you signing out AMA, if it can be established with certainty that the complication would have not occured if you had not left the hospital. It depends upon the insurance policy and company. It'd be something to check into before you decide to check out AMA. And, as previously stated, the hospital and practitioners cannot then be held accountable for anything that you may feel warrants legal follow up, you sign that right away when you sign out AMA.

[mwherbs]

here with one of or transports I remember they did recovery of mom and baby in the same room for 4 hrs after birth-- they checked baby right after birth and offered all the bells and whistles or waivers ... at some point they brought papers in asking to admit the baby- and they needed those papers signed or else they would not have been able to admit the baby unless there was a problem. so I do think that if you are prepared to drive away after that recovery period of time you would not be signing out the baby AMA because the baby would have never been signed in...